dailyendeavor

December 04, 2008

My friend Matt Mahoney launched his startup today, Daily Endeavor. As the name implies, its just the beginning of a journey to empower 100 Million Millennials/NetGens to find their way in the world. From his first blog post, Don't Settle, Do What You Love:

Here’s where the story starts. There are three parts that you need to know.

First, who? There is a tremendous force arriving on the scene, and
at just about the right time. It’s the sheer creative force of people
coming into their own. Maybe they’re 24, or maybe they’re 19. Maybe
they’re your friend, your brother or daughter. Or maybe it’s you. This
great wave of individuals goes by many names (Millennials, Gen Y, Net
Gens, you name it). The labels are not so important, it’s the
individuals that are at the center of the story — who they are, and
what they choose to do. This generation is going to re-shape the world
as we know it. It’s already begun, and it’s fantastic.

Second, have you ever wondered why is it some people truly thrive in
their work life, while others do not? This is the question we set out
to answer as part of a research project at Harvard over three years
ago. The pattern we found isn’t a lack of talent (there is tons) or
opportunity (there are more types of jobs today than ever before). We
found most people never discover what they truly want to do. Too many
people settle. That’s a problem — not only is there great cost to the
individual (”wow, my job really sucks”), but also to their companies,
colleagues and the economy.

Consider the alternative. What if more people found a career path of
genuine interest, however they define it? What if more people were able
to find work that lit them up — how would their lives be different?

In our experience, these people excel, and not just economically.
These people have more opportunities to grow and more ways to — dare we
say it — be happy. They make better colleagues, managers,
entrepreneurs, and probably neighbors too. Because they’re working from
abundance, not scarcity, there’s an unmistakable productivity that’s
unleashed.

If you know people just entering the workforce, please have them check out the service. It offers unparalleled depth and connecting with real industry experts. Many of you may have met Matt when he worked at Socialtext and I'm really happy about the good he is doing in this world.